The structure factor and equation of state of hard-sphere fluids

In a paper by Verberg et al (2002 Dynamics: Models and Kinetic Methods for Non-Equilibrium Many Body Systems ed J Karkheck (Dordrecht: Kluwer)) it was shown that the static structure factor S(k) of a hard-sphere fluid plays an important role in the computation of the transport properties of colloidal suspensions. To perform actual calculations, those authors used a semiempirical form due to Grundke and Henderson which stems out of the Percus-Yevick approximation. In this work we present calculations of the static structure factor of a hard-sphere fluid within the rational function approximation method (Bravo Yuste et al 1996 Phys. Rein E 53 4820) which is wholly compatible with the equation of state used for the fluid. The Carnahan-Starling equation of state (Carnahan and Starling 1969 J. Chem. Phys. 51 635), the Pade (4, 3) of van Rensburg (1993 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 26 4805) and Sanchez (1994 J. Chem.Phys. 1017003), the equation of state of Malijevsk and Veverka (1999 Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 14267) and a recent proposal by us (Robles and Lopez de Hato 2003 Europhys. Lett. 62 56) will be explicitly examined.